You are guaranteed to have enough Lobi for the T6 Lobi store ship after opening no more than 225 lockboxes. It's certainly expensive, but I don't think it qualifies as gambling.
This is about as blunt as I get in regards to lock boxes and current gambling laws.
I hope California passes thorough legislation which severely hinders or completely removes Silicon Valley's ability to capitalize on gambling in their MMOs.
This isn't a PWE thing, this is an industry thing. PWE does it because A: They can. B: Others in the industry do it too, with varying levels of difference.
Just because these companies are acting legally (they are) does not mean that it isn't wrong. Just because something is legal doesn't make it right.
Virtually every MMO does chanceboxes. It's an addiction to the companies as much as it's an addiction to the gamblers who participate. The amount of cashflow for what is honestly minimal (but not zero) effort on their part is simply ridiculous. All they have to do is justify the need for chanceboxes to stay f2p and compete with other companies, and they can sleep soundly at night not caring about their customers who are predisposed to gambling addictions or waste their money or that of their family's because of just how addicting gambling can be. It only takes one incident to discover you're a gambling addict, but that one incident can be downright scary.
The only reason I stayed with STO despite the addition of chanceboxes is because it is so prevalent in the industry, a good 90% of any MMO I would have any interest in participating in also does their own version of chanceboxes. So, while I am ethically opposed to chanceboxes (and have always been), I am not opposed to such an extent I will simply not do business. I like video games (and MMOs) too much.
I can hope that California's government will force every video game company's legal team to seriously rethink their strategies, or force their legal teams to concede that chanceboxes are banished to the history books for MMOs.
I do not place much faith in that, but it is the only thing that will shake up every publisher and developer and recognize what they were doing was and is unethical.
So. If you buy a milk carton that's having a lucky dip promo with the chance to win a car, it's gambling? OK.
If you buy hundreds of milk carton and throw it away because you want the car, then it's gambling. If you buy a milk carton because you actually need milk, then no.
Most people buy milk carton for the milk, they don't wait for a chance to win a car to buy milk.
When you play at a casino, you don't play it for any other reason than the slight hope of winning. That's a huge difference.
As for box, you might open them for the lobis, but chances are you are not opening them for the doff pack. If you do, you're doing it wrong. Most people open them for the ship.
If they remove the chance to win from a casino, pretty much everyone will stop playing.
If they remove the chance to win from the milk carton, sales are not going to suffer much, because people will still need milk. They might buy milk from another company, but in the end, the total sales of milk will probably stay the same.
If they removed the big ship prize from the box, they would sell much less, meaning a lot of people are buying them in the hope they earn the ship.
If you buy hundreds of milk carton and throw it away because you want the car, then it's gambling. If you buy a milk carton because you actually need milk, then no.
Most people buy milk carton for the milk, they don't wait for a chance to win a car to buy milk.
But that means the one deciding whether it's gambling or not is the player, not the game's creator.
The Lockboxes do contain stuff, and I repeatedly heard from people opening lockboxes for the Lobi - and Lobi is guaranteed.
The R&D Promo is even more similar to the milk - because you get the full R&D contents of that box which you get even without the Promo running, and you get either Lobi or the ship.
The DOFF Promos are the same.
Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
Not really the same thing, you would have purchased a carton of milk and received a carton of milk, anything else is a bonus.
Your buying a box with a guaranteed prize inside with all the advertising focused on the new car... But when you open the box it contains a toilet brush.....
They say it's not gambling because you still got a prize.
Fair point, but I'm not sure it crosses the line into outright gambling, as such a broad definition could be applied to a lot of things that people don't see as gambling. Think trading cards, cereal box lucky prizes, etc.
If you buy hundreds of milk carton and throw it away because you want the car, then it's gambling. If you buy a milk carton because you actually need milk, then no.
Most people buy milk carton for the milk, they don't wait for a chance to win a car to buy milk.
When you play at a casino, you don't play it for any other reason than the slight hope of winning. That's a huge difference.
As for box, you might open them for the lobis, but chances are you are not opening them for the doff pack. If you do, you're doing it wrong. Most people open them for the ship.
If they remove the chance to win from a casino, pretty much everyone will stop playing.
If they remove the chance to win from the milk carton, sales are not going to suffer much, because people will still need milk. They might buy milk from another company, but in the end, the total sales of milk will probably stay the same.
If they removed the big ship prize from the box, they would sell much less, meaning a lot of people are buying them in the hope they earn the ship.
In other word, nice strawman argument.
Let me put it this way - I understand you as saying that it depends on the necessity of the guaranteed item as to whether it makes something gambling or not. Isn't that kinda irrelevant?
In other words, nice strawman argument. (I kid, I kid.)
Concerning your point about comparing removal-of-chance-to-win, isn't the point of a promotion to increase sales? So isn't it just a difference in degree? Let's just use the milk carton for convenience' sake. Sales could drop because people would switch to an alternative, or drink less milk. Anyways, the analogy is more valid in the case of the doff pack - Doff packs don't sell well, ala a shop selling a certain ornament that people have no need for. So they hold a lucky spin contest for anyone who buys it. It's not seen as gambling, is it?
In short, what I understand from what you say is that it's the consumer's intention in buying that makes something gambling. I don't agree. Subjective, I guess.
SWTOR has hypercrates. The difference to STO is that the "prize" is subjective - it depends on what you want from the box. In STO, the ship is the big prize, as most will agree on. In SWTOR, it could be that particular color dye combination you desire. But in STO, you can freely pick your colors. I'd rather keep lockboxes as they are then have to gamble in hopes of getting the right black-white-red combination for my Odyssey uniform. Everyone here probably has his favorite color combos for his uniforms - but not everyone wants to fly a lockbox ship.
Mechwarrior Online forces you to spend real world money to get certain mechs. There is no way to trade C-Bills for MC or to use an auction house to sell or buy mechs. And it's a PvP only game, that means if there are superior mechs only to be acquired for MC or special package, then you gotta pay or be second class citizen forever. Not to forget that STO had tons more content than MW:O at launch than M:WO hasafter what 2-3 years?
If Mechwarrior Online had "superior" mechs available only for real cash I would quit the game. I do not mind games charging for known rewards that do not give you a significant advantage. I do not play pay to win games, which is why I will quit STO if they do not correct the upgrade system in DR.
The Lockboxes do contain stuff, and I repeatedly heard from people opening lockboxes for the Lobi - and Lobi is guaranteed.
And I repeatedly heard both ingame and on the forum from people that opened a huge amount of box, had nothing, and complain.
Then, people answer they should have sold the keys instead, and bought the ship.
Concerning your point about comparing removal-of-chance-to-win, isn't the point of a promotion to increase sales? So isn't it just a difference in degree? Let's just use the milk carton for convenience' sake. Sales could drop because people would switch to an alternative, or drink less milk. Anyways, the analogy is more valid in the case of the doff pack - Doff packs don't sell well, ala a shop selling a certain ornament that people have no need for. So they hold a lucky spin contest for anyone who buys it. It's not seen as gambling, is it?
R&D/doff pack are only gambling when you make it that way. Just like the milk carton or a meal at mac donald. Most of the time, there is no offer on it, and you buy it for what they are. Sometime you have a special offer, and it's interesting to buy them at this special moment in the hope you have something. But you still buy them for what they are, and anything else is added bonus.
Boxes are pretty much nothing without the big ship. While you can have several interesting goodies, alongside the guaranteed lobis, it's simply not worth it, and if you do it that way, you're doing it wrong. Because selling the keys, and buying what you want is cheaper. Unless you are extremely lucky (but that's the whole point of gambling, isn't it ?).
Except if you want a lobi console (which is, I think, the only bound item from the lobi store), but let's face it, it's quite situational, and without a ship as grand prize, you can be pretty sure the key sales would drop considerably.
This is about as blunt as I get in regards to lock boxes and current gambling laws.
I hope California passes thorough legislation which severely hinders or completely removes Silicon Valley's ability to capitalize on gambling in their MMOs.
This isn't a PWE thing, this is an industry thing. PWE does it because A: They can. B: Others in the industry do it too, with varying levels of difference.
Just because these companies are acting legally (they are) does not mean that it isn't wrong. Just because something is legal doesn't make it right.
Virtually every MMO does chanceboxes. It's an addiction to the companies as much as it's an addiction to the gamblers who participate. The amount of cashflow for what is honestly minimal (but not zero) effort on their part is simply ridiculous. All they have to do is justify the need for chanceboxes to stay f2p and compete with other companies, and they can sleep soundly at night not caring about their customers who are predisposed to gambling addictions or waste their money or that of their family's because of just how addicting gambling can be. It only takes one incident to discover you're a gambling addict, but that one incident can be downright scary.
The only reason I stayed with STO despite the addition of chanceboxes is because it is so prevalent in the industry, a good 90% of any MMO I would have any interest in participating in also does their own version of chanceboxes. So, while I am ethically opposed to chanceboxes (and have always been), I am not opposed to such an extent I will simply not do business. I like video games (and MMOs) too much.
I can hope that California's government will force every video game company's legal team to seriously rethink their strategies, or force their legal teams to concede that chanceboxes are banished to the history books for MMOs.
I do not place much faith in that, but it is the only thing that will shake up every publisher and developer and recognize what they were doing was and is unethical.
I honestly couldn't have said it any better myself!
I like how SOE does it in DCUO, subscribers get to open an unlimited amount of their lockboxes, included in their monthly fee...
If Mechwarrior Online had "superior" mechs available only for real cash I would quit the game. I do not mind games charging for known rewards that do not give you a significant advantage. I do not play pay to win games, which is why I will quit STO if they do not correct the upgrade system in DR.
Hero Mechs are available only for cash. They are not always superior, but many seemed to have fit just right in the current meta at the time (which for a long time was jump sniping). But that is very subjective, of course. Its not like they sell 110 ton Assault Mechs or Gauss Rifles at 50 % weight for MC.
But they did tricks like releasing Clan Mechs as sales-only first and only later release them for C-Bills.
There is no in-game way to acquire the XP and C-Bill bonuses Champion or Hero Mechs grant. None. Every single item that is in the C-Store, every lockbox ships, every lobi ship - you can get them all in game from other players. The entire upgrade system you seem to complain about in STO - you can grind for the Dilithium, you can craft them yourself or buy them from the Exchange.
There is no such away in MW:O to get stuff that costs MC.
And MW:O has special consumables that eat up your C-Bills or MC - and give you an advantage. And if you don't have C-Bill Bonuses from a subscription or from a Hero mech - how likely are you able to afford bringing the best consumables every match? Can you still upgrade your mech? And how do you even get the General XP needed to afford unlocking the higher consumable tiers, considering that you get it at 10 % the rate you get your Mech XP, unless you convert, which costs MC?
And for all that, the only thing you get are new mechs in the game. New maps are a rarity. Missions? They don't even exist. MW:O is like Star Trek Online minus PVE, the Exchange or the Dilithium Exchang or a decent chat system.
Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
In my local supermarket, there's a bunch of little machines near the checkouts. You put a pound coin in the slot, turn a TRIBBLE, and out pops a plastic capsule with a toy inside it.
I'm guessing, since the machines have pictures of fairies and spangly ponies and comics superheroes on them, that these are aimed at a fairly young target demographic.
And I suspect that some of the toys are scarcer and more prized, in the recipients' eyes, than others.
These things work the same as lockboxes. In fact, they are closer to actual gambling than lockboxes, since there is nothing to prevent (say) little Johnnie, who gets a super-duper ultra-spangly pony by chance, from selling it to little Billie for a million squillion pounds. STO's terms of service prohibit the exchange of in-game items for real-world money, and they make a reasonable, good-faith effort to enforce that policy.
It's not gambling. It's paying for entertainment - in one form or another. It's not gambling, because there is no legitimate, in-game method of getting real money out of it. You put real money in (or not, according to your preference), and watch the pixels on the screen, and hope those pixels rearrange themselves into a configuration you find pleasing.
(Compare this with, say, Second Life, where the in-game currency is freely convertible with real-world cash - and look at the legal precautions that Second Life's operators have had to take as a consequence of this.)
Dabo, similarly, isn't gambling. It's a rather slow and unpredictable device for converting one in-game currency into another, which happens to have an interface which looks like a fictional gaming device on the TV show. But dabo is even less like actual gambling than lockboxes - not only does real money not come out, it doesn't go in, either. One kind of in-game token is converted into another, and that's all.
There's plenty of room for criticism of the lockboxes, though I would point out that the game has to get money from somewhere or it would, y'know, fold up and go away. But they are not, in any meaningful sense, gambling. Yes, there is chance involved, and yes, there is money involved. But I could go out for a walk right now, and find a ten pence piece lying in the road, and that would involve both random chance and real money, but it wouldn't be gambling. (And if I decided I would try to make a living by picking up 10p pieces I found in the street, the problem would lie with me, not the council who maintains the streets, or the people who drop 10p pieces on them.)
if the op is still around, i'd like to point him/her to the fact that sto is, like any other online game often plagued with public obscenity in form of erp (erotic/explicit roleplay) in certain public places that are easy to stumble on if you just want to explore the game, as well as various forms of hate speech, both the shunned and accepted forms, most noticable on esd, the main hub for fed players.
there is no real moderation in this game. all the report button does is put the reported player on ignore list so you can't see their further messages.
Now clowns, that's another story. They scare the crap out of me.
We fight them too. Entire armies spilling out of Volkswagens.
We do our best to fight them off, but they keep sending them in.
if the op is still around, i'd like to point him/her to the fact that sto is, like any other online game often plagued with public obscenity in form of erp (erotic/explicit roleplay) in certain public places that are easy to stumble on if you just want to explore the game, as well as various forms of hate speech, both the shunned and accepted forms, most noticable on esd, the main hub for fed players.
there is no real moderation in this game. all the report button does is put the reported player on ignore list so you can't see their further messages.
That's not true. My LTS account has been suspended several times for naming ships "911 Inside Job". There must have been hundreds of idiots complaining to manage that...
if the op is still around, i'd like to point him/her to the fact that sto is, like any other online game often plagued with public obscenity in form of erp (erotic/explicit roleplay) in certain public places that are easy to stumble on if you just want to explore the game, as well as various forms of hate speech, both the shunned and accepted forms, most noticable on esd, the main hub for fed players.
there is no real moderation in this game. all the report button does is put the reported player on ignore list so you can't see their further messages.
I can only recommend that the OP's kids close the chat box in addition to restricting ZEN purchases. Oh, and because the chat box is closed, don't join PvE/PvP queues.
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Missing the good ol' days of PvP: Legacy of Romulus to Season 9 My List of Useful Links, Recently Updated November 25 2017!
I can only recommend that the OP's kids close the chat box in addition to restricting ZEN purchases. Oh, and because the chat box is closed, don't join PvE/PvP queues.
I wouldn't go that far. You can avoid probably better than 90% of the stupidity by just turning off Zone chat.
"Great War! / And I cannot take more! / Great tour! / I keep on marching on / I play the great score / There will be no encore / Great War! / The War to End All Wars"
— Sabaton, "Great War"
Dear Devs, Considering the gambling prevalent in the features of this game I was just wondering what friendly advice would you give about what age group this game should be played from ? 12, 16, 18 , 21 ?
Im a concerned parent who is a trek fan of course and an editor and has a family full of star trek fans.
considering what ive seen of the new upgrade systems and ships acquisitions etc etc ive been making it a point to peruse through my kids and nephews accounts ... especially to check if they are buying r and d boxes/etc/etc for a "chance" to get certain things. Ive banned most of them from even loggin on to the game through house wi fi security etc but I would like some form of age rating from you devs.
Thank You.
STO is rated by the ESRB the rating is "T" for teen it is on the disk
Hey, anyone remember that one time when the built-in STO voice chat started streaming Chevy Silverado and male enhancement prescription ads? That alone should've bumped the rating up to "M."
Dabo, similarly, isn't gambling. It's a rather slow and unpredictable device for converting one in-game currency into another, which happens to have an interface which looks like a fictional gaming device on the TV show. But dabo is even less like actual gambling than lockboxes - not only does real money not come out, it doesn't go in, either. One kind of in-game token is converted into another, and that's all.
The ESRB distinguishes between real gambling (part of Adults Only rating) and simulated gambling (part of Teen rating). [1]
The ESRB distinguishes between real gambling (part of Adults Only rating) and simulated gambling (part of Teen rating). [1]
The ESRB is part of the same corporate power structure as the mega-corporations which control the games industry. One hand washes the other.
This works the same way as the movie industry, where the studio that makes the movie and the newspaper/magazine that reviews the movie and pronounces it excellent, are both owned by the same corporate conglomerate. One hand washes the other.
Everything which comes to us from the corporations is phony. It's all a dog and pony show. Granted, there's no real avoiding it, but for the love of ****, don't pretend like it's actually legit.
STO is rated by the ESRB the rating is "T" for teen it is on the disk
Came to post this, can't believe it took 8 pages.
And on the ESRB site, and on the (admittedly hard to get because of auto-scroll) information links on the STO site. It's always been missing on Steam, but then so are a lot of games that don't have an equivalent mechanic. For some reason, it's the developers option.
The ESRB does not rate online interactions, but they do rate online games.
The rating is consistent with a number of EA and Ubisoft games that also have blind-purchase microtransactions.
Of course, all of that is nothing to say about the fact that the OP has said they blocked the game in the router to stop the kids from spending money on it, which raises the really disturbing question of why they have access to payment information without knowing what they're buying to begin with.
Comments
I hope California passes thorough legislation which severely hinders or completely removes Silicon Valley's ability to capitalize on gambling in their MMOs.
This isn't a PWE thing, this is an industry thing. PWE does it because A: They can. B: Others in the industry do it too, with varying levels of difference.
Just because these companies are acting legally (they are) does not mean that it isn't wrong. Just because something is legal doesn't make it right.
Virtually every MMO does chanceboxes. It's an addiction to the companies as much as it's an addiction to the gamblers who participate. The amount of cashflow for what is honestly minimal (but not zero) effort on their part is simply ridiculous. All they have to do is justify the need for chanceboxes to stay f2p and compete with other companies, and they can sleep soundly at night not caring about their customers who are predisposed to gambling addictions or waste their money or that of their family's because of just how addicting gambling can be. It only takes one incident to discover you're a gambling addict, but that one incident can be downright scary.
The only reason I stayed with STO despite the addition of chanceboxes is because it is so prevalent in the industry, a good 90% of any MMO I would have any interest in participating in also does their own version of chanceboxes. So, while I am ethically opposed to chanceboxes (and have always been), I am not opposed to such an extent I will simply not do business. I like video games (and MMOs) too much.
I can hope that California's government will force every video game company's legal team to seriously rethink their strategies, or force their legal teams to concede that chanceboxes are banished to the history books for MMOs.
I do not place much faith in that, but it is the only thing that will shake up every publisher and developer and recognize what they were doing was and is unethical.
Most people buy milk carton for the milk, they don't wait for a chance to win a car to buy milk.
When you play at a casino, you don't play it for any other reason than the slight hope of winning. That's a huge difference.
As for box, you might open them for the lobis, but chances are you are not opening them for the doff pack. If you do, you're doing it wrong. Most people open them for the ship.
If they remove the chance to win from a casino, pretty much everyone will stop playing.
If they remove the chance to win from the milk carton, sales are not going to suffer much, because people will still need milk. They might buy milk from another company, but in the end, the total sales of milk will probably stay the same.
If they removed the big ship prize from the box, they would sell much less, meaning a lot of people are buying them in the hope they earn the ship.
In other word, nice strawman argument.
The Lockboxes do contain stuff, and I repeatedly heard from people opening lockboxes for the Lobi - and Lobi is guaranteed.
The R&D Promo is even more similar to the milk - because you get the full R&D contents of that box which you get even without the Promo running, and you get either Lobi or the ship.
The DOFF Promos are the same.
Fair point, but I'm not sure it crosses the line into outright gambling, as such a broad definition could be applied to a lot of things that people don't see as gambling. Think trading cards, cereal box lucky prizes, etc.
Let me put it this way - I understand you as saying that it depends on the necessity of the guaranteed item as to whether it makes something gambling or not. Isn't that kinda irrelevant?
In other words, nice strawman argument.
Concerning your point about comparing removal-of-chance-to-win, isn't the point of a promotion to increase sales? So isn't it just a difference in degree? Let's just use the milk carton for convenience' sake. Sales could drop because people would switch to an alternative, or drink less milk. Anyways, the analogy is more valid in the case of the doff pack - Doff packs don't sell well, ala a shop selling a certain ornament that people have no need for. So they hold a lucky spin contest for anyone who buys it. It's not seen as gambling, is it?
In short, what I understand from what you say is that it's the consumer's intention in buying that makes something gambling. I don't agree. Subjective, I guess.
If Mechwarrior Online had "superior" mechs available only for real cash I would quit the game. I do not mind games charging for known rewards that do not give you a significant advantage. I do not play pay to win games, which is why I will quit STO if they do not correct the upgrade system in DR.
Then, people answer they should have sold the keys instead, and bought the ship.
R&D/doff pack are only gambling when you make it that way. Just like the milk carton or a meal at mac donald. Most of the time, there is no offer on it, and you buy it for what they are. Sometime you have a special offer, and it's interesting to buy them at this special moment in the hope you have something. But you still buy them for what they are, and anything else is added bonus.
Boxes are pretty much nothing without the big ship. While you can have several interesting goodies, alongside the guaranteed lobis, it's simply not worth it, and if you do it that way, you're doing it wrong. Because selling the keys, and buying what you want is cheaper. Unless you are extremely lucky (but that's the whole point of gambling, isn't it ?).
Except if you want a lobi console (which is, I think, the only bound item from the lobi store), but let's face it, it's quite situational, and without a ship as grand prize, you can be pretty sure the key sales would drop considerably.
I honestly couldn't have said it any better myself!
I like how SOE does it in DCUO, subscribers get to open an unlimited amount of their lockboxes, included in their monthly fee...
Hero Mechs are available only for cash. They are not always superior, but many seemed to have fit just right in the current meta at the time (which for a long time was jump sniping). But that is very subjective, of course. Its not like they sell 110 ton Assault Mechs or Gauss Rifles at 50 % weight for MC.
But they did tricks like releasing Clan Mechs as sales-only first and only later release them for C-Bills.
There is no in-game way to acquire the XP and C-Bill bonuses Champion or Hero Mechs grant. None. Every single item that is in the C-Store, every lockbox ships, every lobi ship - you can get them all in game from other players. The entire upgrade system you seem to complain about in STO - you can grind for the Dilithium, you can craft them yourself or buy them from the Exchange.
There is no such away in MW:O to get stuff that costs MC.
And MW:O has special consumables that eat up your C-Bills or MC - and give you an advantage. And if you don't have C-Bill Bonuses from a subscription or from a Hero mech - how likely are you able to afford bringing the best consumables every match? Can you still upgrade your mech? And how do you even get the General XP needed to afford unlocking the higher consumable tiers, considering that you get it at 10 % the rate you get your Mech XP, unless you convert, which costs MC?
And for all that, the only thing you get are new mechs in the game. New maps are a rarity. Missions? They don't even exist. MW:O is like Star Trek Online minus PVE, the Exchange or the Dilithium Exchang or a decent chat system.
I'm guessing, since the machines have pictures of fairies and spangly ponies and comics superheroes on them, that these are aimed at a fairly young target demographic.
And I suspect that some of the toys are scarcer and more prized, in the recipients' eyes, than others.
These things work the same as lockboxes. In fact, they are closer to actual gambling than lockboxes, since there is nothing to prevent (say) little Johnnie, who gets a super-duper ultra-spangly pony by chance, from selling it to little Billie for a million squillion pounds. STO's terms of service prohibit the exchange of in-game items for real-world money, and they make a reasonable, good-faith effort to enforce that policy.
It's not gambling. It's paying for entertainment - in one form or another. It's not gambling, because there is no legitimate, in-game method of getting real money out of it. You put real money in (or not, according to your preference), and watch the pixels on the screen, and hope those pixels rearrange themselves into a configuration you find pleasing.
(Compare this with, say, Second Life, where the in-game currency is freely convertible with real-world cash - and look at the legal precautions that Second Life's operators have had to take as a consequence of this.)
Dabo, similarly, isn't gambling. It's a rather slow and unpredictable device for converting one in-game currency into another, which happens to have an interface which looks like a fictional gaming device on the TV show. But dabo is even less like actual gambling than lockboxes - not only does real money not come out, it doesn't go in, either. One kind of in-game token is converted into another, and that's all.
There's plenty of room for criticism of the lockboxes, though I would point out that the game has to get money from somewhere or it would, y'know, fold up and go away. But they are not, in any meaningful sense, gambling. Yes, there is chance involved, and yes, there is money involved. But I could go out for a walk right now, and find a ten pence piece lying in the road, and that would involve both random chance and real money, but it wouldn't be gambling. (And if I decided I would try to make a living by picking up 10p pieces I found in the street, the problem would lie with me, not the council who maintains the streets, or the people who drop 10p pieces on them.)
there is no real moderation in this game. all the report button does is put the reported player on ignore list so you can't see their further messages.
We fight them too. Entire armies spilling out of Volkswagens.
We do our best to fight them off, but they keep sending them in.
That's not true. My LTS account has been suspended several times for naming ships "911 Inside Job". There must have been hundreds of idiots complaining to manage that...
I can only recommend that the OP's kids close the chat box in addition to restricting ZEN purchases. Oh, and because the chat box is closed, don't join PvE/PvP queues.
Missing the good ol' days of PvP: Legacy of Romulus to Season 9
My List of Useful Links, Recently Updated November 25 2017!
I wouldn't go that far. You can avoid probably better than 90% of the stupidity by just turning off Zone chat.
— Sabaton, "Great War"
Check out https://unitedfederationofpla.net/s/
STO is rated by the ESRB the rating is "T" for teen it is on the disk
The ESRB is part of the same corporate power structure as the mega-corporations which control the games industry. One hand washes the other.
This works the same way as the movie industry, where the studio that makes the movie and the newspaper/magazine that reviews the movie and pronounces it excellent, are both owned by the same corporate conglomerate. One hand washes the other.
Everything which comes to us from the corporations is phony. It's all a dog and pony show. Granted, there's no real avoiding it, but for the love of ****, don't pretend like it's actually legit.
Came to post this, can't believe it took 8 pages.
And on the ESRB site, and on the (admittedly hard to get because of auto-scroll) information links on the STO site. It's always been missing on Steam, but then so are a lot of games that don't have an equivalent mechanic. For some reason, it's the developers option.
The ESRB does not rate online interactions, but they do rate online games.
The rating is consistent with a number of EA and Ubisoft games that also have blind-purchase microtransactions.
Of course, all of that is nothing to say about the fact that the OP has said they blocked the game in the router to stop the kids from spending money on it, which raises the really disturbing question of why they have access to payment information without knowing what they're buying to begin with.